Ali in Austria

Not parachuting but I am a Paraglider This is what we get up to out here, passing right over my house and landing near the farm below: ">

Many Bikers stay in Andermatt which is handy for the passes you mentioned. I haven't been there for years but others are saying it is being heavily developed and losing its appeal. Switzerland is notoriously expensive. I posted this on another thread> Be aware that the Swiss Police are very hot on speeding and that the national speed limits on normal roads is only 80kph. They aren't so much anti biker, rather anti motorist full stop. The fines are frightening and appear to be means tested. Play down your occupation if you do get caught. In recent years they have been stopping bikes wholesale and doing checks for things like tyres. The going rate for a defective tyre was €500,-. In excess of €1000,- plus an instant ban for speeding is common place. Personaly I only go in to Switzerland if I have to but many others have uneventful trips year after year. It is just some don't. Have fun

Be aware that the Swiss Police are very hot on speeding and that the national speed limits on normal roads is only 80kph. They aren't so much anti biker, rather anti motorist full stop. The fines are frightening and appear to be means tested. Play down your occupation if you do get caught. In recent years they have been stopping bikes wholesale and doing checks for things like tyres. The going rate for a defective tyre was €500,-. In excess of €1000,- plus an instant ban for speeding is common place. Personaly I only go in to Switzerland if I have to but many others have uneventful trips year after year. It is just some don't. Have fun

It may be long but it isn't telling you to take the kitchen sink, just mostly important essentials if relevant to you and some space saving tips. Remember, many countries in Europe on allow the sale of even simple remedies and the likes of Paracetamol from a pucker chemists. Not everywhere has one and if you are desperate and it is out of hours it can be a problem. Need a new tyre (many places won't do repairs, then you may be surprised to find how far apart places equipped to deal with bikes are and how little stock they carry. Weekends can be a nightmare as most places close Saturday Lunchtime and don't re open until Monday provided it's not one of the many holidays they appear to have. Recovery companies tend to do just that with bikes, recover them to a place of repair. On the subject of Public Holidays, they can be frequent, on any day of the week and most businesses not involved in Tourism will be closed. Forewarned is forearmed. I like to take decent hiking/climbing summer shirts etc as they fold small, don't crease, keep you warm and cool as required, rinse out easily and dry quickly.

This is a list I did some years ago when I took Tours to Europe. Most points are still valid. Clueless Touring Tips 1. Make sure your Passports are valid for the period we will be travelling !!! 2. Make sure you have a European Health Insurance Card which replaces the E111. Get one here; http://www.nhs.uk/NHSEngland/Healthcare ... -ehic.aspx It is also worth reading about your entitlements in each country and what you have to do. The EHIC will provide basic emergency treatment but will not get you repatriated and Travel Insurance is advised. 3. You will need to be in possession of your Driving Licence, Insurance and Registration Document . 4. Arrange Travel Insurance to cover cancellations, possessions and medical bills. Make sure motorcycling is an approved activity. 5. Check your Bike Insurance covers you for riding in all countries we will be travelling through. Do you need to notify them of the dates you are travelling abroad? Do you need a Green Card? 6. Arrange European Breakdown Cover. 7. Make sure you have the correct emergency equipment as required by law in the countries we are travelling in. A reflective vest in the event of motorway breakdown for each person, a First Aid kit and a spare bulb kit are all that is usually needed. 8. Arrange for your motorcycle to be suitably serviced prior to setting off and allow for 3000 miles to be covered during the Tour. Consider Tyres, Chain & Sprocket life etc... 9. Prepare a small tool kit of basic tools and include cable ties, Gaffer Tape, insulation Tape, fuses etc... just for an emergency. Do you have sufficient Scott Oil if applicable. Carry a small bottle of suitable engine oil. 10. Consider filling your tyres with Ultraseal – It can save no end of grief. 11. Save your old T-Shirts, socks and undies, clean of course, to wear during the day while riding and then throw them away. Creates space for the presents to bring home. Seamless underwear is more comfortable when in the saddle all day. 12. Save small plastic bottles with tight lids. These are useful to decant shampoo, shower gel etc in to save room and weight. 13. Places like Superdrug and Boots often have small travel packs of washing powder etc on offer like BOGOF. 14. We will experience extremes of temperatures on the Tour. Pack accordingly. Many thin layers are more effective than bulky items. If you have separate waterproofs, pack them so that they are easy to get at. A spare pair of Gloves is useful in case of getting wet through. 15. Save up all those little packets of silicon that you find in all sorts of purchases. They are very handy to place in boots and gloves overnight to assist with drying them out. 16. Are your panniers ect waterproof. Pack items in bin liners. 17. Roll items up when packing to avoid creasing. Share groups of items between panniers / bags in case of an accident so that not all of one thing is ruined. 18. Pack for the travelling days so that you only have to access one pannier, box or bag. 19. Photocopy all documents including drivers licence, insurance, breakdown insurance, travel insurance, EHIC Card, passports, Ferry tickets, booking details and pack them elsewhere than the originals or carry the copies on a USB Stick or Flash Card. 20. Carry a debit & credit card or two of one or the other just in case. Make sure you know the Pin Numbers. 21. Carry a full spare set of keys for your house, motorcycle, luggage and any locks you may be using and store them safely. (Do not lock them in a pannier or top box). 22. Carry a spare visor. 23. Dress code is as comfortable as you feel. I just don’t want to see any of the blokes wearing them. 24. Don’t forget some swimwear if you want to take advantage of the pools, sauna, Jacuzzi, sunbathe etc. 25. Carry some Euros. We will almost certainly have to pay some Tolls so make sure you can carry Euros which are easy to get at when at a Toll Booth. 26. If you are taking electrical items such as Mobile Phones, MP3 players, don’t forget the chargers for them and get an adapter for European Plug Sockets. 27. If you are on medication of any description, ensure you have a sufficient supply for the duration of the Tour. If necessary gets a covering letter from your GP stating that the medication is prescribed to you. 28. Suggested Non Prescription Medication – Sea Sickness tablets, Paracetamol or Aspirin & Ibuprofen & Diarrhoea Treatment. Hand Wipes, Sun cream and after sun, Chap Stick or Lip seal, Hand cream, Plasters, Insect repellent, Antihistamine or Insect Bite relief treatment, tissues, and any other personal toiletries you may need. 29. If you wear glasses for riding, some countries require you to carry a spare pair. Have a look here http://www.pensionhausmaria.com/location.asp. Scroll down to just below the Google Map where you will see an interactive Widget supplied by The Foreign Office and which gives travel and motoring advice. Just keep clicking on the Icons in the areas you are travelling in. The list contains tips. Some of the stuff is a legal obligation, others suggestions. Take from it what you will. Usually when I post it up someone if quick to jump down my throat saying most of it is unnecessary. We now live in Austria and most countries further east are safe and easy to travel through.

We drove over Postalm in December, a regular Biking Route in the summer, and came across this: ">

Although the 660 should in theory be better, practically I don't think it is. The only Downside with the 550 is that the maps have got so big in storage size that if you want the whole of Europe on you have to use an SD Card to supplement the memory. The 550 can handle a card up to 8GB but will only recognise up to 4GB. It treats the memory as a total rather than separate locations when in use so maps can be shared between the internal Hard drive and the SD Card. In reality you don't need all of the maps on there at any one time and there is ample room for what you do need. Even the software will remind you if a map area for a route you have planned is not on the device and ask you if you want to add it. It is easy to change it from bike to bike but if you want to use it on several bikes you own at the same time I would suggest getting additional power leads for hard wiring and additional Ram Mounts and Cradles. I would recommend Hard Wiring a switched feed to the Power Lead. If you have a Live Feed, moisture can over time cause corrosion, short between the pins on the cradle and pop the fuse inside The Sat Nav Unit. (I made that mistake on 1 bike). Keep the pins clean and all is good. They are substantially more robust that the Tom Tom ones.

Everyone will have their preference. I've used a Garmin Zumo 550 since 2006. Many trips to Europe including organised Bike Tours, and it came with all the bits for Bike & Car. Even the Mrs gets on with it I see lots of 660's and input routes in to them for guests but of the two, I prefer the 550. It is probably because I am used to it but it behaves better than the 660 IMHO albeit that it has now been superceded. Garmin's Tech Support are second to none and if it does go tits up out of warranty they do a very fair (again IMHO) replacement scheme. I do not like Tom Tom and find it a RPITA to input routes even using Tyre, compared to Garmin and the Garmin Software. Many who like to tour but use a Sat Nav originally designed for a car begin to regret not getting one designed for a motorcycle and Touring. Just my few pennies worth.

Weihnachtsgrüße Merry Christmas from Austria. http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd406/PensionHausMaria/ChristmasEmail1_zpsc229f800.jpg

Merry Christmas from Austria http://i1218.photobucket.com/albums/dd406/PensionHausMaria/ChristmasEmail1_zpsc229f800.jpg

A little knowledge can be dangerous.

Heated grips will drain a battery not being charged very quickly. That is the danger of having them connected directly to the battery. Heated clothing will do the same. I once made the mistake of sitting at a pump while the wife went in to pay and had left the ignition on with a non running engine. Battery was completely discharged a few minutes later. Oxford have a built in safety feature that switches them off when the battery drops below a certain level.

Cheaper ones tend to have elements on just one side so if you don"t fit them correctly the heat is at the back of the grip and not the front. Better sets have elements all round. Many, not necessarily cheap brands, have no insulator for the clutch side so the heat dissipates in to the bars. Not a problem on the throttle side obviously. I removed the official Suzuki heated grips on my VStrom because they suffered from both the above faults and replaced them with Oxford Grips. I've been using this set for over 5 years with no problems. They can get uncomfortably hot on high settings when wearing thin gloves. My Quad has OE heated grips designed for them and they are very efficient (essential in winter out here) but then it is Canadian and built for harsh winters. What some don't realise is wearing really thick gloves reduces the benefit from the heated grips. It is best to look for some with a thinner palm and thicker back. Heated gloves can be a better option. It is important to get sone where the elements curl over the top of the fingers otherwise your finger tips suffer. I've found heated inner gloves have this feature more commonly than heated gloves themselves.

As others have mentioned, "Target Fixation" and poor observation are the main obstacles to overcome before you start looking at better technique. Get yourself on some form of advanced riding course or do one of the Police Observed days. You will pick up some invaluable tips and your observation will be raised. You will be surprised how much difference it makes.

He told me it lasted about 20 mins then let go and was a waste of time. I'd be very surprised if that happened.

Rising up against a brutal and corrupt regime isn't really in the same bracket as disagreeing with a speed limit is it? While undertaking, passing on the left or whatever your preference for calling it, is not illegal in that there is no specific offence, it is a dangerous practice to advocate it. There are many occasions when the act will potentially constitute an offence such as even just lane changing (in certain circumstances), exceeding the speed limit, carrying out the manoeuvre in adverse weather when others have reacted to the conditions or even just to try an make a few metres in heavy traffic in certain circumstances. Argue all you like about the rights and wrongs, just don't do it in front of the Police. Every incident is judged on its merits and impossible to debate as an overall subject but just be mindful when doing it that it may result in you being pulled over and potentially having to argue your case in court. Unfortunately there has to be rules and regulations because a significant percentage of motorists are "expert" drivers/riders solely in their own mind and there will be some who now undertake regardless because they read on a forum somewhere that they could. Fortunately a (perceived) Police presence on UK roads is now greatly diminished so there is a strong possibility you will get away with it. There are also may traffic laws (not all) that the Police do not break because they have an exemption written in to the law. It will be National and Local Policy that decides who can use this exemption, usually dependant on their role and level of training, but any breach is an internal disciplinary matter and not a traffic offence.

+1 but make sure you have some thick cloth to catch the spillage. We always included this step after a major overhaul.

Have they changed the law since I retired 5 years ago and subsequently emigrated? I spent 26 years doing immediate response and although I was motorway trained, I was not a Traffic Officer. I was regularly despatched to the motorway to deal with incidents and regularly dealt with offenders on the motorway. My knowledge of Traffic, Crime & GPD was pretty good as it should be for my role. I wouldn't like to think anyone might waste their time and money challenging a ticket for an offence they think the officer isn't qualified to issue when actually he may well be. Criticising someones driving standard always brought more protest and even abuse than dealing with a thieving scum bag. I really can't see the argument against issuing tickets for these offences. It is a means of streamlining the system and freeing up court time. If you want to challenge the ticket, opt for a court hearing which after all was the only option before they introduced this. If you don't want a ticket, don't do it simples

I've tested them in anger. The Kevlar remained intact although the outer was shredded as you would expect. I did suffer some pretty nasty friction burns though which have left lasting scars. Hasn't put me off wearing them in the heat.

All Go Pro files have to be converted prior to editing in any software. It is because of the way the native file container records and stores the information. Most formats record all the info for each frame on each frame. Go Pros spread it around the file. There are good free file converters out there. On Macs I use MPeg Stream Clip. When editing video files be aware processes take time and it is often best to go away and let it do its stuff.

While we are in that neck of the woods, This was The Großglockner earlier this month. "> ">

He was a teacher in a position of trust. Parents should be safe in the knowledge that their children are safe at school. He abused that position and the sentence reflects the seriousness of that abuse rather than any sexual relationship. He would have been expecting it.

For the reasons you want it you should be focusing on picture quality. If it is not clear then it won't help you. I've seen very clear footage where it was obvious who the person was and what happened, be dismissed as inadmissible.

Part 2 now uploaded. Apologies again for the twee music. ">

I didn't realise the Police made the Laws and decide on how how they will be implemented. I would imagine the issuing of tickets free's up the courts for more serious matters. If you accept what you have done and pay the ticket that would save a lot of time on paperwork for a court file as well. If you dispute the ticket and request a court appearance then exactly the same effort is required on the part of the Police and Courts as if you were taken to court in the first place. It also saves the offender taking time off work etc to attend a court hearing doesn't it?